Maybe it's better off this way
by Namiya
Summary: A different view on the story... if any, of one of the most reknown characters of this saga. Chapter 2: Decimate And Die is now up.
1. Prologue

**Maybe it's better off this way

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Open letter to anyone who claims to be a Ryu fan/otaku/junkie/etc: Being probably one of the most under/over(such a paradox)exploited characters, I think of Ryu as an open canvas. Since Capcom has done so little to even give the character a proper story, the only thing that has enhanced Ryu's plot a bit is when Capcom decided to create the Evil Ryu.

Showing that there may be something else on his mind besides that "The Fight Is All" Clique, I decided to become a fanfiction writer. Although I've been writing for about 12 or 13 years, this is the first time I actually decided to open my material for such a larger comunity, such as with the fic...

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**Prologue**

The wind blows. It almost feels as if the sky is about to fall down and wipe everything off the face of earth. A young man knows this particularly well, for he was destined to die at such a short age. Between the bangs of his hazel brown hair, a crimson color outstands. While his right eye is partially closed by a severe bruise, his left eye reveals a red colored pupil.

Suddenly, he feels the need to cover that same eye that glows with such a blinding red light. Like blood was flowing directly from the pupil. After a few moments, his right eye starts to surpass its wounded state and opens; and, as it glares to his right hand... just the sight of it causes a shocking state that can be noticed on the width of his still wounded eye.

His breathing rhythm becomes faster, since he keeps on glaring to that same hand.

"W-w-why?" He slowly mutters to himself. Stained in blood, his right hand seems like a reminder that something horrible just happened-- Yet he doesn't seem to remember what is it.

The oxygen begins to sort effect, as he looks a little calmer. His breathing pattern becomes more stable, while he takes away from his eye his left hand. His eyes remained close, not showing that disturbing red color on his pupils.

"Heresy is not a phase, Hoshi. For you are now officially condemned" Who was it? That voice quickly made its way towards the mind of the white-gi clad warrior, forcing him to open up his eyes. Hoshi... he hadn't heard that name in a long time, even though it was his own.

"Hoshi Ryu. You couldn't just accept your fate... just like your ancestors did. No, you had to prove yourself worthy, for the sake of your sensei's memory" The voice spoke behind him. Ryu, a young one barely on his twenties, made a fearful grin. He did not recognize that voice. However, he knew that, whatever was in store for him, it couldn't be anything to relieve his mind. He sighed heavily.

"But you're not here to insult Gouken's memory" Without turning back to face this mysterious person, a shadow haunted his face, while he lowered his head. "Speak your business, whoever you are"

"Fair enough..." The voice was now clear and strong. "... You, Hoshi Ryu, are found guilty of the crime of murdering the appointed executioner of the Hoshi clan: Gouki. Not only that, but to use as well the ankatsuken ryuu to perform such felony"

Ryu held his chin high once again, while he turned back to finally come to an about face with this person that sprawled about a sentence. It was a dark haired woman, that looked about his age... she had long black hair, that matched her athletic, yet feminine build. She was wearing a black top that revealed her belly slightly, matching with a black short skirt.

She started to approach towards him. When she stood right in front of him, Ryu felt a little chill down his spine, as she started to caress his right cheek.

"Such a waste... but if you're strong enough, we may see each other again" She quickly takes her other hand and puts it on his other cheek, and gently kisses him. Ryu stood there, completely surprised.

As the kiss ended, Ryu opened and closed his eyes several times, showing his complete awe. Meanwhile, the mysterious woman started to walk away.

"Wait... who are you? And what kind of nexus links you to Gouki?"

"I told you once... if you're strong enough to survive what lies ahead of you, you night find out more" While turning her head back to face the still surprised warrior, she winked at him.

"I expect you to. Don't let me down… Ryu-kun" She stated, while turning away to continue her path. She blushed a little when saying those words.

Ryu didn't know what to say, or even what to do next, as for that matter. His mind had so many questions, yet no one could point him an answer. He looked down, trying to figure out something to do.

_(Maybe I should just start off by cleaning this mess...)_ He thought, while walking towards the dojo that stood behind him. The front gate was completely torn apart, so were the wooden windows.

Most of the sliding doors had holes and were completely useless. At the center of the dojo, in the training grounds, a body lied completely lifeless. The hair of the now corpse was red, resembling the color that now glows on both of Ryu's eyes. The eyes, however, were completely white, indicating that indeed this person had passed away.

"You fool... I knew you dragged my master down to death, but I never knew that you had already covered your toll with my family" Ryu stood there, right by the side of the now corpse of Gouki, the self-proclaimed master of the fist.

On the chest of the now defunct, two notorious wounds were perceptible through his pierced black gi. One was on his lower stomach, while the second rested on his solar plexus. A third wound could be sighted in his mouth, completely covered by his own blood.

His blood was particular. It was a little darker than the average blood. Since the death time hasn't passed that much, those weren't blood clots: this was his natural blood color.

Since rigor mortis hasn't kicked in, Ryu was able to take both of Gouki's arms and put them in a crossed stance, with his fingers touching the opposite shoulder of the respective arm. But, something remained that disturbed Ryu greatly. His eyes were still open.

"You fought well... it was really the hardest battle I had in all my life" Ryu quickly took a quick look on his own body. Most of his white gi was completely covered by blood or dirt.

His right eye was still black and blue. His mouth was still bleeding, even when that strange woman locked lips with him. His red gloves were practically gone... he was, more than anything still surprised that he could still stand on his feet.

_(But it seems this is just beginning)_ He thought, while leaving Gouki's side.

When he returned, he had a large, white bed sheet on hands. After covering Gouki's body with it, Ryu took both his hands together for a moment...

After he was done, he touched both of Gouki's now stiff feet. The corpse was now on flames. Hoshi quickly took a last glare towards his enemy.

_(If that woman was right, then you dragged me down to your shit-hole...)_

Although he didn't showed, Ryu was furious. He barely could survive this battle, but probably knowing that there might be other life or death battles lying ahead of him, the white head banded warrior gave a thought.

_(Burn... burn with everything this lie stood for. Burn with this lie that were the last 2 decades of my life... vengeance meant nothing... I hope you're happy now)_

While resuming out of the dojo grounds, he stared at this autumn sky. The sun was just setting. The only thing he was carrying was a white, beat-up duffle bag.

_(A Masquerade, huh? A hustle it is then)_ Ryu decided to take off his white headband. He grasped on the frontal fabric. He closed his eyes; mind digging on the slim amount of clues he had of the up-coming events... if any.

_(Self-centered assholes...)_ He thought, while taking his duffle bag off the ground.

_(... Whoever you are)_

He was used to leave on short notice, whenever he had no further need for a certain place to stay at. Now he had no reason whatsoever to return to this place.

All memories began to become feeble… he's never been homeless… but now that the ghosts have came back, the peace this dojo—no, this sanctuary brought to him was no more.

A building was leveled to the ground, engulfed by the flames. Suddenly, the flames were extinguished, leaving nothing but the torn debris caused by a sinister.

_(May rest finally takes you on its arm, Gouken sensei)_

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This is my second sight on S.F. Although I don't expect to become a constant S.F. writer, I hope this won't be my last effort into this series. Also, if you get to check my other fics, feel free to give me a piece of your mind. I take it all. 


	2. I DO NOT want this

**Maybe It's Better Off This Way**

**The Jerk Speaks: **Recently, I got this mail that told me about how we are being kicked off because we respond to the feedback we get from the reviews. Well, I don't know how bad has gotten this biz', to be honest; but I mean, what's the point? (In kicking people off for such thing).

We use this space(that has given to us rightfully) to thank the readers for taking time out of their lives and read the fix we ellaborate. So i think the guys that manage over ff shoul at least respect that much. Ok, that's all there is in me for the ranting... let's get this thing going and... oh, yeah, disclaimer and such are at the bottom.

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**Chapter 01: I do not want this.**

Hong Kong. Many Days Later

Even if its political situation is hard to explain, Hong Kong is a natural center for the biz'. Though densely populated, this is one of the places with most freedom in the whole world.

Anything a tourist, businessman, or even a warlord could ever dream of, can be found here… its part of the pride of being a Hong Kong citizen: To know that, with the right amount of cash, you can get pretty much anything.

_(So crowded… maybe I shouldn't have come at this time of year)._

Lost on his thoughts, a reddish-brown haired tourist seemed to ignore the sight that a junk ship gave to Hong Kong's bay.

"Oh, you enjoying yourself, young friend?" The Junk owner asked him in English with a heavy Cantonese accent. Even when he wasn't noticing his surrounds, Hoshi did his best to smile at the query.

"Quite, sir" Ryu answered in a perfect pronunciation.

"Oh, you from America?" Although his skin was a bit lighter than the usual Japanese, it wasn't really American-like.

"No. Japan"

"Ah, you speak very English"

" Thank You " Ryu answered to the compliment in perfect Cantonese.

" Ah! Such a smart young man. You also speak my language greatly "

_(At least all that spare time paid off for something) _He thought.

A good thinking Ryu had when he left his gi bagged. He didn't wanted to stand out. Not in this place. Half-hour of time consumed, the Junk Ship finally arrived to the coast. After paying up his travel fee, he finally put one foot on earth.

_(Wish the situation didn't call for this visit)._

A couple of Hours Later

Away from the urban chaos that represents being a peasant on Hong Kong, Ryu finally made it to his destination. Not a very crowded place… a graveyard.

On his left hand, Ryu was carrying a dozen of white roses, in a beautifully arranged bouquet. Many memories came back with his arrival to this place.

/--/

- You really think you can beat me, silly girl?

- For the sake of my father's memory, I WILL!

/--/

The Head-banded peasant suddenly reached for the lower back of his head, using his right fingers to ease the pain. He didn't had to rush things… he walked between the tombstones with a slow, almost lysergic pace.

Finally, he ceased his move right in front of a small tombstone. The surface looked quite dirty… seems that no one has given the proper cleansing to this grave. Ryu lay the bouquet in the resting axis of the tombstone. After doing so, he lowered his head a bit, while the usual sound of a clenched, crackling fist took place.

"If you had listened to me, things wouldn't be like this" Ryu closed his eyes, as he felt another living presence approaching him.

" Perhaps the loss of a loved one drives you to do such " The voice that interrupted Ryu's self-lecture was strong. Ryu opened his left eye to take a look at the newcomer.

" And, since when you can contact the dead? " Ryu closed his eye yet again.

" I really doubt you would really want to know the things I'm capable of… Fei-Long "

Dressed in a designer's black trench coat and wearing black sunglasses, Fei-Long stopped dead on his tracks, a bit amazed by the tone Ryu used.

"The only thing that still amazes me is to see that you have the nerve to show your face here" The world-famous movie star also knew his stuff on English matters. His tone showed that he had no fear for simple words.

"Don't worry… I'll be on my way. I just wanted to—"

"Pay your respects? Forgive me if I don't buy your façade right away" After the Chinese Dragon's remark, Ryu directed a fearful gaze towards him.

"Oh, already getting cranked up? I thought sifu-Gen had taught you better than that. No wonder things turned out the way they did"

"Take. It. Back" All signs of Ryu's normal voice were quickly fading, as his tone become more and more somber.

"Already getting sifted, aren't we?"

"I said— STOP IT!" Along with a strong voice, the projection of Ryu's ki came out. Fei-Long was paralyzed after witnessing a bit of Ryu's anger.

A few moments passed by, with a dead silence between both warriors. After taking his shades off, Fei-Long's eyes stayed wide open, watching how the man standing in front of him returned his breathing pattern slowly back to normal.

After finally getting calmed down, Ryu let out a long sigh.

"I can't blame you, really. But you have to believe me, the scars are real, and I don't mean the physical ones" After his statement, the Japanese warrior directed a melancholic look at the grave…

Fei-Long glared at him for a moment, before lowering his glare. Ryu was walking towards him but, instead of stopping to have a word with the famous martial arts movie star, he just passed right by him…

"I—I'm sorry. It's just hard for me to believe that it's been 6 months already" Now Ryu was the one frozen dead on his tracks.

"At the very least her death wasn't in vain"

"Yeah, the world has a psychotic megalomaniac less to worry about. Many, many more to go" The ironic tone used by Fei-Long didn't concealed the fact that he was indeed sad.

"She was something of a sibling to you, was it?" A tainted smile was marked across the movie star's face after hearing such question.

"Yeah, my brave wish-to-be little sister" Fei-Long headed towards the grave where Ryu had left his bouquet. After opening his trench coat, he revealed a very special arrangement of flowers. Almost with a contrast towards the white roses Ryu carried, the red roses seemed to summon a flare around the grave.

"You know… she had a thing for you" Ryu stood amazed after hearing Fei-Long saying those words.

"Y-y-you…?" Ryu looked aside. "I guess—it was that obvious, isn't it?"

"Of course; you weren't precisely Mr. Ladies man. Well, at the very least you took a hint"

Ryu lowered his head once again. He's been through this before. Even his long time friend had told him about this particular issue.

"Let's… not talk about it" Fei-Long chuckled ironically.

"You're right. All of us could use a closure"

Fei-Long finally stopped staring at the grave and, as he stood up, he closed his trench coat once again. Heading towards the spot Ryu was standing, he tapped the Japanese warrior on the shoulder, without looking at him.

"Was nice to see you…"

"Ditto—" Ryu cleared his throat for a second. "…Hope you make it big with that drama film"

Fei-Long turned back. He couldn't help but to chuckle mirthlessly. "The things they put out on TV these days…" He said in a playing tone.

"See you" He turned his head back on the road. A few moments later, Fei-Long was gone.

A strong wind blew Ryu's bangs off his face, revealing his left eye. He suddenly looked aside in awe. After a second, he returned to his cold mood.

"You give that old corpse too much credit" a hand appeared on his right shoulder. The hand looked quite delicate, with black manicure on every single fingernail. It looked like this hand has never been onto a real combat.

"Silence. We're in a resting place. The very least you can do to pay your respects is to keep that yapper of yours tight shut"

"Jeez, didn't know you could be such a prude little one"

_(Why couldn't you just leave me alone? I'm paying my respects to someone I held dear)_.

His thoughts weren't that unknown actually. All he wanted to do is to beat the hell off this person. After a while, this mysterious person revealed its identity. It was that same woman of a few days earlier. She had that long, perfectly combed black hair.

"Oh, so you don't respect her anymore? That's good. I'm tired of people paying respects to a bunch of fucking corpses" Ryu wasn't surprised that she could read his mind.

"Take for instance all those famous wankers that passed on at a young age. They die, and a decade after, people keeps on moping about them. Talk about sad shit"

"Listen…uh…" Ryu didn't know the name of this woman.

"Bianchi… Sophie"

"Right. Listen Sophie; I really don't care about your 2 cents right now. Just leave me be for the moment… then I can go back and figure out that riddle you planted in my head"

Sophie smiled. Her skin was white as snow… her eyes were a mixture of blue and green, as if she was a siren, instead of an ordinary woman. She directed a look at the tombstone.

"Xiang Chun-Li rests here… How sad. No eulogy? Oh, right. She was some kind of a special op and shit, wasn't she?" Ryu shrugged between his both crossed arms after hearing that despising comment.

"Her name was Chun-Li. And she was an Interpol agent, which is more of what I can say about you right now"

"My, my. Fei-Long sure nailed it with that statement. You truly get worked up ea—" Suddenly, she was cut off on her obvious end for the noun. A strong hand was the main culprit for such.

"Gg-ui—plet—"

"Listen…" He wasn't letting go off her neck. Yet Ryu interrupted again, but instead of using his strength, he opted for the spoken option. "If you EVER pretend to stay around me, the very least you can do is try your best and pass unnoticed. I barely know who you are, don't force me to do away with you"

Even when she was being choked to unconsciousness by Ryu's tight grasp on her neck, she let one smiling grin to be noticed by the ankatsuken warrior. This of course disturbed him greatly.

"Oh really? You? The strong-willed poster boy for the council's scheme? Kill me? Just how pricelessly hilarious is that" If this was some kind of plot from her part, it was being played by just perfect, for Ryu's next action was…

SLAP!

Using his spare hand, the white head-banded warrior backslapped Sophie. She fell flat to the ground.

While cleaning the blood off her lower lip, she began smiling again, as she stood up.

"You can't even fight seriously against a stupid fan-girl who begs and begs for you to accept her as your pupil… and you expect to be able to go on and kill ME?" Ryu's eyelids were wide open. The ball's in her court once again.

"Oh, yes Ryu. I know about your dear fan, Kasugano Sakura. I also know that you weren't courageous enough to tell her to stay off your way… oh, but why's that?" Her hypocrite tone could be detected easily. Ryu could be a little naïve, but as Fei-Long said earlier: he's still able to take a hint.

"Oh, riiiiiiight! Because you have, up to this date, hidden feelings for her, isn't it?" Her fake smile towards him couldn't be more disgusted for his eyesight.

Ryu scoffed, and turned his back on her. He was about to leave the cemetery on the opposite direction that he first came in from.

"Awww, did po' widdle Demian's kiddo weels wad?" Even when she used a playful tone, her dialogue burned in Ryu's mind. He stopped his attempt to leave the cemetery.

_(Demian? Who's that? Was he…?)_

"Your father tried to avoid his destiny, and it didn't ended pretty for him. Why don't you just embrace it?" Her tone was dry. Now she's being honest… at least that's what Ryu wanted it to be like. After those lines, Ryu resumed on his path. However…

"Because we're the architects of our own destiny, Sophie. Regimes are just illusions created by people's own definition of both power and prowess, while using their abilities to control weak minds who allow such"

Sophie decided to follow him, as she was clearly surprised for that demonstration of logic.

"… Wow… I didn't expect that, I must say" Suddenly, she stopped from following him.

When he realized—

"Say, what's bothering you know?" He said, while turning back to stare back at Sophie.

"Remember when I said that, if you were strong enough, we may see each other again?"

"I recall that, yes…"

"… Well, let's say I wasn't supposed to come and meet you here" Ryu let out a sigh.

"You're something of a nuisance, did you knew that?" She shrugged, while taking both of her hands to her back.

"Well, now I do hope you're strong enough to survive and meet me again" After hearing her argument, Ryu rolled his eyes.

"Damn it—" Ryu took a quick look at his current dressing code. "--Ugh, I'm not even properly dressed for this"

"Um, sorry?" She smiled, trying to show a shadow of sympathy. With not much luck, really.

"Just go already, would you?" After that, Sophie started to walk towards the other gate of this otherwise silent place. While still walking away…

"Hey, I said I was sorry, OK?" She said in quite a loud voice, while she kept on running.

After witnessing Sophie disappear between the graves, he directed his gaze towards his back. A strange presence could be felt. As he reached for his left pocket. After finally getting his left hand off it, he started to adjust his red gloves into both hands.

He couldn't delay anymore. The presence was getting closer and closer with every passing second. Instead of looking concerned, Ryu seemed bored.

_(This is…no, I can't come with a word that explains how ridiculously redundant this is)_ His thoughts would be audible, if it wasn't for the fact that a thick mist started to surround him.

Finally, a shadow could be sighted in front of the head-banded warrior. It was humongous.

_(Oh, well--) _Ryu pouted silently. It looks like it's about to become a large afternoon.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Street Fighter or anything related to it. I'm glad for such thing-- 

Foot Notes: If you have any problem reading this thing, well you're a freaking a-- I mean, here's some guidelines:

Stuff written between these things> means that one character is using languages other than english and japanese.

_(Stuff Written like this) _means that the character is holding thoughts to her/himself.

/--/ Stuff written between these two thingies means a flashback is happening /--/

Well, cya'... and remember, say YES to keep responding to your feedback!


	3. DAD

**Maybe It's Better Off This Way**

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**Namiya: **Well, it's seems like an awful lot of time has passed since I decided to update this awful excuse of a fanfic. If anyone who happens to read this thing also stumbled upon "Blindfolded..." not to worry, I'll update that fic soon enough. So, without further remorse**...

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Chapter 02: D (ecimate). A (nd). D (ie).**

A flood runs through Ryu's left arm, being the source his shoulder socket. The color is self-explanatory, as an un-requested numbness invades this particular zone.

"Shi-kuso" Although usually very proper on his speech addressing, Ryu couldn't help it.

It's been only 15 minutes since the struggle began, and he was already at a noticeable disadvantage. Holding his left shoulder, from where blood dripped at a very slow pace, the Shoto-kan warrior lowered his head, though the combat was far from over, and his opponent showed no sign of mercy whatsoever.

Then, a grave, cave-depth like laugh echoed.

"Gouken's very own apprentice is failing. This is an odd, yet delightful sight" The statement was cut by yet another baritone-reverb of joy. As the mist began to wither, it revealed the enormous build of the voice's owner. He was tall, like no one the Japanese warrior ever confronted. Even the Muay Thai emperor, Sagat, seemed a bit short compared to this person. He was, at least, around 10 feet tall, while Ryu barely scratched below the 6 feet mark.

"But we're not here to delight on the pain of such a quartered mortal, are we? Nooo…" The unknown giant shook his head lightly.

"But better to let be known, that the very last one of the carriers of the Hoshi heritage, will die at the hands of a noble sir, and not to filthy rejects, like Gouki and his pathetic sibling who could not even carry with such a simple task"

Right after hearing that, Ryu's mind became a pool of nothingness. There were no words that sufficed to explain this…

_Gouken-sense… appointed to kill me? Demo-- naze?_

Still struggling with his flesh wounds, Ryu kept on staring at the floor, in hopes of finding the strength to believe such thing.

"Because he was supposed to do away with your father… yet, in the first place, he was unable to kill both you and your mother, who was supposed to be the last one of the clan"

"But… I thought my—"

"Your father?" The giant let out a scoffed laughter before continuing. "Do not be so naïve in your final hour, Hoshi! Your father was just a simple mortal that tainted the heart and womb of Hoshi Mikuni. The only thing remotely special about that mundane, filthy commoner was that he was able to actually sustain a battle against his brothers. Aside from that, he was a waste of flesh and blood"

Listening to that depriving talk about the parents he never met made him feel strangely relaxed. He still kept his look down.

"I see. May I know your name now?"

"Ha! And why would I speak of my name to whom is about to die?"

"Let it be the last memory that I take to my grave… noble sir" Making a slight emphasis on that last part, Ryu knew that appealing to a degree from the likes of his now conversational opponent was vital somehow.

"Fair enough… the name is Zog…" As the giant, Zog, took his right hand towards his sword-fund around his waist, he assumed a swords-man stance. "And I am your executioner" Zog quickly un-seated his gigantic sword, as he approached towards his kill at an unseen speed.

Ryu, on the other hand, stood still, with absolutely no guard or stance… as his opponent approached.

"DIE!"

A sword lunge sound could be heard. A line of blood quickly stained the ground.

"… AHHH!"

The atonal scream almost left Ryu deaf. The source was the voice of his now badly deformed adversary. Holding the place where his right hand was no longer, Zog fell on his knees, crying from the pain it brought upon him the loss of half his right upper limb.

"WHY?" He shouted, while holding his head up to stare at his opponent's eyes almost directly. "You were already a goner!" When he took a closer look towards Ryu's eyes, he somehow felt the urge of taking such words back.

Zog's black eyes opened wide.

"This is why you should save your utterly speech for the end, self-centered idiot" Ryu took a short leap back. Afterwards, he took a deep breath, while his eyes opened a little bit more, revealing their crimson color clearly.

After giving his left arm a slight massage, Ryu made a fast move with this same arm. His fingers were widespread. Thus, his giant opponent started to float off the ground.

"W-w-what in blazes? How can you--? But you are still--!"

"A boy" Ryu completed the phrase for Zog, who remained in complete awe, after witnessing his body was floating.

"But it takes years to develop the right amount of discipline to dominate telekinesis! Not even a Hoshi's heir should--"

"You THINK a full decade of training was worth nothing?" Ryu interrupted again, while closing his fingers a bit.

This had an effect on Zog's neck, similar to strangling. Suddenly, Ryu aggressively pulled his hand, as if scratching the air towards his right.

RRIP!

…A slashing sound could be heard. As a headless corpse fell to the ground, making a huge thud.

"… I guess being a noble tends to rot away such thing" Ryu sighed afterwards, as he looked aside. Finally, his eyes stopped between two of the tombstones that were demolished due to the battle fought a few instants ago. His trench coat was between the debris of those memorials. As he removed the stones, he started to dirt it off.

"Gee, you're really giving those old guys a headache, you know?" The Japanese warrior closed his eyes.

"Just come out, Sophie" Right after his words, the young woman appeared right between two graves that remained intact. Ryu turned back to confirm.

"Also, why would you never drop your façade? That's not something a Shoto-kan based student learns" She said.

"Because it's forbidden…" Ryu's comeback was clever, nonetheless.

"Spare me the bullshit. Tell me if I'm wrong, but wasn't that the whole reason for this to start?"

"You tell me… this whole thing brought you to the picture" While stating that, Ryu noticed how Sophie avoided stepping on any stains of blood on the ground… she missed one spot.

"Ugh… my chucks!" Bianchi uttered after noticing that she had stepped onto a mixture of blood and saliva. Ryu stared oddly at her.

"You DO realize that those are just shoes…" He suggested.

"But it's blood…" She interrupted. Ryu grunted in annoyance, after hearing that whiny excuse. "You know how hard it is to actually clean blood off your clothes--?"

"Actually I do" Ryu stopped for a second, to check on his wounded arm. While checking it, a strange glow started to appear on his right hand.

"And believe me… it's nothing compared to have one of your limbs broken" He continued.

Sophie witnessed, not without having a certain expression of awe, how the head-banded warrior proceeded to heal his wounds.

"Wow… talk about saving on bills" She stated, with something of a quirky tone.

"Um… Sophie. Exactly, how old are you?" Hoshi asked quite politely.

"That's none of your business, mister! Besides… you don't ask the lady-folk about such a thing" While hearing that, Ryu couldn't help but to let out a short laugh.

"You kind of remind me of her"

He paused for a brief moment, just to check on his arm.

"Ah, there it is. Oh, well, I'll just assume you're about her age"

Her pale skin revealed a slight colorful tone. "Hmph! That's quite rude, you know?"

"Okay. I'll leave that subject alone… It's just strange to have a traveling companion and not—"

"Well, we're not traveling companions in the first place…" She interrupted him "I'm not even allowed to meet you. The very fact of us speaking like this is jeopardizing not only your existence, but mine as well… Ryu-kun" This took Ryu off guard. He somehow knew that Sophie had already begun a scheme a bit different, but to know she was putting her life on the line as well…

"What drives you to do such thing?" This time he was officially intrigued. While the ansatsuken warrior kept on taking the dirt off his coat, Sophie turned back to stare at him.

This left Ryu greatly confused, making his right eyelid open in wide, while his left one remained concealed by his reddish / brownish bangs of hair. While she headed towards him, he grabbed off the ground his backpack.

"You should better riddle me this. How on earth are you going to dispose of a nine-foot headless corpse without anyone noticing it? I know that not many people come this way… but they say smell can be such a catch"

Even when her grin denoted that certain superiority thing, she was completely outshined when Ryu showed his serious mood once again.

"You don't want to know" By the tone he used, Sophie knew exactly what was next.

"O…kay, I'm keeping my pie-hole shut next time" Sophie started to walk away from the scene.

There was not much left to do. Ryu gathered his duffle bag that remained almost untouched by the destruction due to the fight he sustained with Zog. His belongings were scarce, but more than enough for him. After getting everything in order, Ryu glared upon the corpse of the one he murdered without even staining his hands.

_This is obviously not a good sing of the things to come._ He thought, while checking on Zog's already stiff corpse.

"Already Rigor Mortiis… well, this should be easy" Suddenly, Ryu's left palm was engulfed in a crimson fire. He placed this same hand a few inches away from the corpse.

As if a bonfire, the flame stood calmly within its range. While Ryu took his duffle bag once again, he started to walk out from this torn place.

After finally exiting the cemetery, He kept on his way, not daring to look back.

"Police should be here soon. I must hurry" After this comment to self, Ryu quickly started to run.

BOOM!

After that sudden explosion, the whole area that bordered the cemetery grounds was engulfed in flames.

_I wish this grind would stop… this shouldn't have been necessary. Then again, seems everything's out of my reach these days. Solitude has always been a good "companion", so to speak. However, after setting the grounds of Chun-Li's resting place on fire, I feel that I am betraying everything that I am...  
_

Ryu interrupted his thoughts for a moment, only to witness the destruction from a relatively safe point.

…_Everything that Gouken-sensei told me. Everything that I used to stand for…was I really fated to embark on this journey? Or it could have been avoided…?_

While he kept on brooding about this incidents, he decided to shut his vision off that scenario.

"Perhaps a more subtle approach next time" A melodic voice permeated Ryu's left ear.

"Sophie, stay off my head. The least I need is—"

"—to know why your own master was intended to kill you?" Ryu stared oddly shocked at Sophie's intervention. After a moment passed, Ryu looked down.

"Well, that would be a good starter"

"You shouldn't be so attached to this whole father figure/master routine. Hoshi Mikuni was quite the powerful one. So powerful indeed, that she was able to trick one of the mighty Ansatsuken masters into training her own son" Sophie's tone was quite playful at the end.

"Stop talking about my mother like that" Ryu shrugged, quickly crossing his arms while still holding his head down.

"Whoa, seems somebody doesn't like the hard truth. Why is it so hard for you to accept the prowess your mother had? According to good sources, you inherited her most outstanding traits"

Ryu turned his head away for the remaining moment. "Not something I feel particularly proud of"

"Why not? Most people would die to be like you. You possibly have the most grand amount of untapped power in this world" Ryu scoffed at this remark.

"Yeah, and if you add it up to a thing called a murderous intent, that just rounds it up nicely" Ryu dryly answered.

Sophie shrugged quietly. It seemed that Ryu was quite used to scold himself.

"But I thought Gouken rejected the original intentions of the Ansatsuken"

"It may be so. But the reason for such belief was because Gouken-sensei never killed anyone… ever. However, in all arts of war nature the first original principle is not to defend, but to attack…" Ryu paused a moment to clear his throat.

"… Thus, the very name and proper practice of Ansatsuken are both valid. However, modern society frowns upon its own history, so it's quite understandable why Gouken-sensei disguised both Ken and me as users of Shoto-kan. That is also the main reason why he only taught us the non life-threatening techniques of Ansatsuken"

Sophie stared at Ryu, completely out of words. Ryu put a puzzled face.

"I'm a little mixed up here. If he never taught you anything harmful about that goddamned style of yours, why on earth are you even able to use such?"

"Because, the only way I could ever be able to defeat Gouki was to embrace my dark nature. Although Gouken-sensei rejected the murderous intent, he never shunned the possibility of someone else being able to learn it. After finding his old scrolls, I started developing them…"

"You… didn't killed anyone before ending Gouki's life… did you?"

"Of course not. It took me almost 3 years to develop the correct amount of ki to not commit the same mistake both Gouki and Goutetsu-sama did. I won't take a human life without a purpose. Gouki's death was for vengeance…"

"What about Zog's?"

"It was on self-defense. If an enemy attempts to inflict harm, or even death upon you, yet you believe yourself skilled enough to counter such strength, then it is valid to end his life… this is the self-defense principle of Ansatsuken"

Sophie's expression continued to reveal her total awe. Maybe she was sent to serve Ryu on the whereabouts of his condemn, but to realize that he bears such a strength…

"It really makes me wonder why this girl, Kasugano Sakura, has the hots for you" Hoshi looked aside after Sophie's comment.

"Because she's ignorant…" He retorted. Then he returned his look towards Sophie.

"…but that can be fixed" His left eye, along with his facial expression denoted one thing solely: Determination. Sophie Bianchi recognized that, and smiled.

* * *

**Useless foot notes:** I do NOT own Street Fighter. I, however, own this story, as well as the character known as Sophie Bianchi(among a few other things). This chapter was influenced by King Crimson's first LP "In The Court Of The Crimson King". Something awesome inspired me, for a change.  



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